WASHINGTON (AP) — James Wood homered, tripled and scored four runs, and the Washington Nationals erased a quick four-run deficit to beat the San Francisco Giants 11-5 on Tuesday night.
Wood also walked twice and stole two bases for the Nationals, who have won three of four after losing five straight.
CJ Abrams hit a three-run homer and Keibert Ruiz had three hits including a solo shot for Washington, which finished with 15 hits. Alex Call added a pair of RBI doubles and a walk.
“We went from real gloomy to boom,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “What they did was play hard for 27 outs. They really did. They started working good at-bats and they started driving the ball.”
MacKenzie Gore (7-9) continued his recent struggles but navigated through five innings for his first win since June 14, allowing five runs on eight hits. He walked two and struck out six. Over his last nine starts, Gore is 1-4 with a 7.24 ERA.
Three Washington relievers combined to pitch four scoreless innings of one-hit ball to close it out.
Michael Conforto had a three-run homer, double and a walk for the Giants (57-58), who were looking to climb above .500 for the first time since they ended play on May 29 with a 29-28 record.
San Francisco rookie Hayden Birdsong (3-1) was staked to the early lead but couldn't hold it. He was lifted after two-plus innings, allowing seven runs on five hits — two of them home runs. He walked three batters, all of whom scored.
“Today he just really didn’t have command of anything early on,” manager Bob Melvin said. "And they were putting some good swings on him, putting a lot of pressure on him. Never really had kind of a break out there. But not his best.”
Heliot Ramos homered to make it 1-0 with one out in the top of the first. Gore walked Matt Chapman with two outs and hit Mark Canha before Conforto lined a three-run homer to right center.
Wood tripled to ignite a five-run second inning capped by Abrams' three-run drive off Birdsong on a shoulder-high fastball.
“I have no idea how he hit that ball," Birdsong said. "Good for him. That guy can hit. And they can hit fastballs. … I knew that going in. Not very many people are probably hitting that ball. It was impressive.”
And Abrams reaction?
“I was confused about why I swung,” he said. “But I was happy I did.”
Ruiz homered leading off the third inning to make it 6-4 and later in the inning Call doubled off reliever Randy Rodriguez to score Wood with Washington's seventh run.
Wood capped his night with a two-run homer in the eighth as Washington outscored San Francisco 11-1 after the first inning.
“I think just knowing that we’re able to string together some hits and get guys on base,” Wood said of the team's mindset during the comeback. “At that point, it just takes a big swing to get us right back into it.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Giants: CF Ramos returned after missing the past two games with a jammed right thumb. … Manager Bob Melvin said INF Wilmer Flores (right knee tendinitis) will be out the rest of the season after having a Tenex procedure on his knee on Tuesday.
UP NEXT
San Francisco LHP Blake Snell (1-3, 4.29), who pitched a no-hitter against the Reds last time out, opposes RHP Jake Irvin (8-9, 3.56) on Wednesday.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Washington Nationals' James Wood, right, steals second base against San Francisco Giants second baseman Casey Schmitt, left, during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
San Francisco Giants center fielder Heliot Ramos misses a ball that went for a double by Washington Nationals' Alex Call during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Washington Nationals' Alex Call gestures as he stands on second base with a double during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Washington Nationals' James Wood runs towards third with a triple during the second inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump used one of the flurry of executive actions that he issued on his first day back in the White House to begin the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization for the second time in less than five years — a move many scientists fear could roll back decadeslong gains made in fighting infectious diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
Experts have also cautioned that withdrawing from the organization could weaken the world’s defenses against dangerous new outbreaks capable of triggering pandemics.
Here’s a look at what Trump’s decision means:
During the first Oval Office appearance of his second term, Trump signed an executive order detailing how the withdrawal process might begin.
“Ooh," Trump exclaimed as he was handed the action to sign. "That’s a big one!”
His move calls for pausing the future transfer of U.S. government funds to the organization, recalling and reassigning federal personnel and contractors working with WHO and calls on officials to “identify credible and transparent United States and international partners to assume necessary activities previously undertaken by” WHO.
This isn’t the first time Trump has tried to sever ties with WHO. In July 2020, several months after WHO declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic and as cases surged globally, Trump’s administration officially notified U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the U.S. was planning to pull out of WHO, suspending funding to the agency.
President Joe Biden reversed Trump’s decision on his first day in office in January 2021 — only to have Trump essentially revive it on his first day back at the White House.
It is the U.N.’s specialized health agency and is mandated to coordinate the world’s response to global health threats, including outbreaks of mpox, Ebola and polio. It also provides technical assistance to poorer countries, helps distribute scarce vaccines, supplies and treatments and sets guidelines for hundreds of health conditions, including mental health and cancer.
“A U.S. withdrawal from WHO would make the world far less healthy and safe,” said Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO Collaborating Center on Global Health Law at Georgetown University. He said in an email that losing American resources would devastate WHO's global surveillance and epidemic response efforts.
Dr. Tom Frieden, a former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Trump's move "surrenders our role as a global health leader and silences America’s voice in critical decisions affecting global health security.”
“We cannot make WHO more effective by walking away from it,” Frieden said in a statement. “This decision weakens America’s influence and increases the risk of a deadly pandemic.”
Yes, as long as he gets the approval of Congress and the U.S. meets its financial obligations to WHO for the current fiscal year. The U.S. joined WHO via a 1948 joint resolution passed by both chambers of Congress, which has subsequently been supported by all administrations. The resolution requires the U.S. to provide a one-year notice period should it decide to leave WHO.
It’s extremely bad. The U.S. has historically been among WHO’s biggest donors, providing the U.N. health agency not only with hundreds of millions of dollars, but also hundreds of staffers with specialized public health expertise.
In the last decade, the U.S. has given WHO about $160 million to $815 million every year. WHO’s yearly budget is about $2 billion to $3 billion. Losing U.S. funding could cripple numerous global health initiatives, including the effort to eradicate polio, maternal and child health programs, and research to identify new viral threats.
American agencies that work with WHO would also suffer, including the CDC. Leaving WHO would exclude the U.S. from WHO-coordinated initiatives, like determining the yearly composition of flu vaccines and quick access to critical genetic databases run by WHO, which could stall attempts to produce immunizations and medicines.
At a September campaign rally, Trump said he would “take on the corruption” at WHO and other public health institutions that he said were “dominated” by corporate power and China.
His executive order Monday said the U.S. was withdrawing from WHO “due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China and other global health crises” and cited the agency’s “failure to adopt urgently needed reforms” and its “inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”
WHO made several costly mistakes during the pandemic, including advising people against wearing masks and asserting that COVID-19 was not airborne. The agency only officially acknowledged last year that the virus is indeed spread in the air.
During its efforts to stop COVID-19, WHO also dealt with the biggest sexual abuse scandal i n its history, when media reports revealed that dozens of Congolese women had been sexually harassed or assaulted by health responders working to contain Ebola. The AP found senior managers were informed of some instances of sexual abuse when they occurred in 2019 but did little to stop them or punish perpetrators.
In a statement Tuesday, WHO said it “regrets” Trump's announcement.
“We hope the United States will reconsider and we look forward to engaging in constructive dialogue to maintain the partnership between the USA and WHO,” the organization said.
“For over seven decades, WHO and the USA have saved countless lives and protected Americans and all people from health threats. Together, we ended smallpox, and together we have brought polio to the brink of eradication,” WHO said.
At a Geneva news briefing on Tuesday, WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said the U.S. contributed 18% of WHO's budget in 2023, making it the single biggest donor that year. He declined to say what the U.S. withdrawal might mean for WHO.
Cheng reported from Toronto. Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
President Donald Trump signs an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)